MRCT have recently launched a second collaboration with the University of Bristol in the area of pain medicine. This project will focus on developing novel modulators of the second galanin receptor subtype (GalR2) for neuropathic pain, a major medical and economic burden, and a complication in several other diseases such as diabetes.

Professor David Wynick at the University of Bristol discovered that levels of galanin increase in the body in the presence of pain, and increasing levels of galanin can dampen the effects of pain for a prolonged period. The collaboration will use MRCT’s expertise in chemical drug discovery to develop new molecules that enhance the effect of the natural galanin in the body, and relive the symptoms of pain.